Okay, darlings!
There is so much to discuss, and I know you want to. Is there a teensy part of me that feels a little bit of embarrassment over my devotion to ‘eventually’? Yeah, a tiny bit. BUT…the rest of me is in fighting mode. It is on, my friends. This had all better be worth it. Or else, what…you might ask? I don’t know, haha. But SOMETHING! Something IMPORTANT! I’m not mad; I promise. It’s just that my heart is rising up and getting fierce.
Okay…deep breath in, deep breath out.
Actually, let’s talk even MORE about feelings, shall we? Specifically…let’s discuss what Booth said about feelings.
Two issues:
1. His previous feelings of love for Brennan which are no more. I (sort of) believe him. Or at the very least, I believe that HE believes himself, and that is good enough for me for the purposes of this post. But what I’m not sure about is this…what exactly ARE (WERE) those feelings? What is it that he felt for Brennan? Do we really know? Has Booth ever been honest with ANYONE about his feelings for Brennan? Max, possibly, in Bone that Blew. Cam, a bit, in Harbingers. And Dr. Wyatt…sort of, in Dwarf in the Dirt. But…I’m not so sure about any other time. Perhaps the more he asserts himself in this area, the more ‘truth’ there is being covered up? Just a thought.
2. His interpretation of Brennan’s (also allegedly former, according to him) feelings for him. Brennan did NOT say ‘love’; we know she didn’t. And yet, Booth tells Sweets that she did. Even my dad, who was casually watching with me sort of frowned, “She didn’t say love, if I recall.” Right on, Dad. She said she regretted not giving him a chance. But Booth heard something else. Is he correct? Thoughts?
Soooo…what’s to make of all of this?
I know I’m among friends. I know I’m with rational people who use their brains and their hearts in conjunction. I know there won’t be spoilers or foul language (despite my *ahem* small lack of discretion previously). I know that I can ask you what I’ve asked you without fear that this will turn into a Booth bashing fest. I don’t want to censor people. And sure, there’s room for frustration and anxiety. It’s not easy to hear him say ‘never’ or anything like that. It’s not easy to see him toast to love with Hannah. But perhaps we’ve relied too much on our hearts in the Booth department and we’ve associated right and wrong to what we feel. If that’s not a total Booth thing, I don’t know what is!
I don’t always answer my own MAQs but today, I’m going to toss out my thoughts.
I think Booth is completely serious when he says ‘it will never happen’. I think what he means is “I will never put myself in a position to feel as crushed as I did”. Let’s not underestimate Booth’s ability to compartmentalize. That’s what he’s done, and it’s probably healthy in some ways.
So he tried it one way, the ‘fate way’, I’ll call that, and we all saw the results of that (and let’s also remember the difference between what we know and what he knows regarding Brennan and her decision making/motivations. There is not a statute of limitations on the amount of time that passes before Booth is somehow responsible for that knowledge). So…he decides to create his own fate. He finds someone new. She likes him. She loves him. She does a lot of things that make it kind of easy for him, and so he has a choice to make; feel pain and miserable or feel loved.
I don’t know about you, but when I look at myself right now, in regard to my failed relationships in the past (whether they are romantic or not), I do totally hedge my bets. I’m not going to just hand my heart over to someone who has hurt it in the past. Let’s also be clear; for all Booth said on love…I don’t think he ever said anything like that, “Keep offering yourself to a person who seems to not care one bit”. So he’s not being a hypocrite for not wanting to be brokenhearted all of the time.
So…gone is the cocky belt buckle. Gone are the after case drinks. They’ll be partners, because that’s the new way. He’s making his own fate. He’ll still protect Brennan, but at arm’s length. Not because he doesn’t care about her, but he honestly does remember what it feels to have her in his arms.
If you’re in a relationship now, you know it’s not healthy to hold on to feelings and/or fantasize about a past lover. Booth should not be required to do so (especially considering Brennan was never his lover).
So again, I say…what’s to make of it all? I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
Peace, Love & Bones,
~S
Bones Theory 
January 21, 2011 at 7:29 am
Booth loves Brennan. But Brennan rejected him, so now he suppresses his feelings. Yes, he seems comfortable with Hannah – he may even think he loves her, all the time suppressing his feelings for Brennan. There is the issue of wildly different backgrounds and lifestyles (Brennans success as author, her wealth, her knowledge in her field) that Booth is struggling with. Saying to Hannah that his feelings are in the past is a lie and he knows it – and that’s dissappointing.
I was dissappointed by the lack of Booth/Brennan interaction, but it’s realistic given Hannah. Booth was deeply hurt by Brennans rejection and the wound hasn’t healed.
January 21, 2011 at 7:32 am
I can agree with you about Booth is acting like this to protect himself and try move on and try be happy the way he knows. Of course he won’t tread the rough path he did since he start open his heart to Brennan on 100th cuz like you said he didn’t tell he love her, and he won’t be hurt again but i just think he’s cheating his own real feelings trying” be happy “and saying he loves a woman he knew a few months and keep saying he’s moving on from a relationship of a woman he learn protect, admire,and love for 5years ( Brennan).And one of his cheating act to himself is seeing him break his own pact he did with Brennan of what happens between us is ours. To me this Booth we’re seeing this season is the booth living out of the real Booth. i just hope with Brennan’s confession on TDITP he start to back his path to be the real Booth again.
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January 21, 2011 at 7:38 am
Hey Sarah,
I can start of by saying that I usually do not start reading Bones Theory until I have watched the episode at least twice. For some reason, I couldn’t wait this time. I’ve also never had this amount of emotion for a television series and I often question my sanity as a result. I saw the episode last night and was utterly disappointed. I know I held unrealistic hopes for this episode but part of me hoped that Booth would be more outwardly conflicted about his feelings for Bones. I went straight for this post this morning to see if any of my fellow watchers saw something I missed. I’m glad that I did. I did NOT notice that Booth no longer wore his “COCKY” belt-buckle. When I read in your post that Booth no longer wore his buckle, it gave me hope. Until now, I only had Clark’s proclamation of “Booth and Dr. Brennan together” as my only indication that somehow Booth and Bones would make it through this time apart. Now I have the belt buckle. To me, Brennan has already acknowledged that the belt buckle was the indication of his “Boothiness” and even though he may not be wearing the buckle because Bones gave it to him, I plan on believing that Booth will not wear it until he can completely be his “little signs of rebellion”-self. I plan on believing that you have to “be bad to be good” and that Booth can’t really be bad or good without Brennan. Thank you for giving me a reason to re-watch the episode.
January 21, 2011 at 10:40 pm
I question my sanity also….I keep telling myself to let it go and to get a life….but I still come back and I am still cheering for those two. I take it so personally. Your not alone. A lot of us question our sanity!
January 21, 2011 at 7:40 am
While watching the show last night, I too was struck by the words that he was using in regards to what Brennan confessed to him. She said “I missed my chance”. He heard ” I missed my chance, I love you”. People do that. They hear what they want to hear. He had put his heart out to Brennan and wanted to become more intimate. That was a tough thing for him to do as he is as protective of his emotions as Brennan is. When Brennan refused his advances, he felt crushed. She wanted them to be partners at work, not partners in life. Then, Brennan told him she missed her chance. The words he wanted to hear were from Brennan were I screwed up, I love you. Right or wrong, he was listening to her with his crushed heart not his head. (Make sense?) Now he is telling Sweets and Hannah that Brennan is admitting she made a mistake; but, it is too late for them (Booth and Brennan, he has moved on and is not in love with her anymore). BUT, is it, has he moved on? Booth has always been able to tell Brennan anything, except that he loves her. He needs to be able to talk to someone so he talks to Sweets. Sweets sees what Booth is doing; but, goes along with it. What else can he do. Sweets considers himself a friend of Booth. He wants Booth to see that he deluding himself about Brennan; but, Booth is not willing to listen yet. Not yet. Booth has put up a shield to protect himself from further hurt from Brennan. He has probably been doing this since he was a child. He has talked himself into moving on. Brennan told him that she wants to work with him so that is what he is doing. I also noticed that the Cocky belt buckle was gone. Since he originally wore it for Brennan, of course, he can’t wear it now. He was displaying plummage for her when he wore the Cocky belt buckle and the vibrant ties. Now, he doesn’t want to draw her attention to him so he has muted his style. (Make sense?) All this tells me, is that he has shielded himself from the one he loves. He doesn’t want to get hurt anymore and life goes on. And yet, he is still working with Brennan and is still concerned enough about what she thinks and what she feels that he has to consult with Sweet about her. This episode was a treading in place episode. It was to show us that he was trying to deal with Brennans’ confession; but, not really doing an honest job about it. All it is doing is planting the seeds for Hannah to reconsider her position in this triangle and yes, sabotaging another relationship. Poor Booth, he seems to do that a lot. I feel sorry for him right now.
January 21, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Lenora, I do so agree with you. Everything you said makes complete sense to me. Booth is between a rock and a hard place right now, and trying to do the best he can.
Re the cocky belt buckle – GG told him it was ‘ modern day codpiece, that forces the eye to the groin’ – well it’s no longer required, I guess.
January 21, 2011 at 7:40 am
I certainly believe Booths feelings for Brennan haven’t just magically gone away. He is burying those feelings in the hope/process of moving on. In Hannah he has found someone who WANTS to be with him, so of course he is going to throw himself into that relationship. However much I don’t like it!! Booth is trying to convince himself that his feelings for Brennan are in the past and he will keep telling himself that because if he was to dwell on those feelings, where would that leave him?
January 21, 2011 at 7:47 am
@wellsbones Booth has known Hannah longer than a few months. In Afghanistan and in D.C. He is comitted to Hannah and wants to make it work. She is great for him. So if he can’t make with her, then what does that say. . . . ALSO When Brennan was running of the mouth to Hacker she was doing so to a stranger. Booth is in a relationship with a woman that he loves he is allowed to share an issue that affects them. . . Brennan was out of line with Booth and her BFF when she knew he was taken.
January 21, 2011 at 8:45 am
Hacker certainly was not as important to Brennan as Hannah is to Booth, but then again, egg in meatloaf is nowhere near as important as asking for a second chance! Just saying…
January 21, 2011 at 8:10 am
I find it extraordinary that fans are attempting to rationalize and explain Booth’s actions and comments because the scriptwriters and/or actor(s) obviously can’t make them clear. Why don’t we take Booth at face value, that he has moved on and Brennan is no more than a professional partner and Hannah is the one he loves. The show could easily continue in this mode (perhaps find a handsome man for Brennan) and we would not have the soap opera that is being presented to us as entertainment at present. I suppose its because I have invested so much emotional energy into this show that I am disappointed at the direction its taking us.
Nothing Booth is doing is surprising – he has moved on since episode 100 and is doing exactly what any sensible person would do in the circumstances. What is surprising and makes little sense is the SL pushing the BFF of Brennan and Hannah. This is risible. Show me a super rational person like Brennan who would be bosom buddies with the ‘other’ woman . She would definitely not see that as rational.
As for each not actually voicing the words “I love you” I believe both have demonstrated quite clearly to the other in the past that they love that person. Its not always necessary to say the words but expressing that love in many ways is much stronger. If the scriptwriters do decide some time in the future to get B&B on the same page at the same time then they may say I love you but by then who will care.
January 23, 2011 at 9:37 pm
I disagree on whether Brennan would see being friends with Hannah as rational– I think she absolutely would, via the following logic: I trust Booth’s judgement. Booth has judged Hannah to be a person worth knowing/being friends with. Hence, I should be friends with Hannah.
If she allows her feelings about Booth to get involved, she’s actually (by her own definitions) being irrational.
January 21, 2011 at 8:19 am
Yeah…cocky is gone. That is HUGE. When I rewatch the episode tonight with my husband I’m going to be looking to see if the ties are gone too. I also wonder about the socks. Booth is trying to strip Brennan completely from his life (well, in every way but professionally) it seems and as sad as it was to see last night, I think it was also the one thing in the episode that gives me hope for them. He’s battening down the hatches, reinforcing his new center…but when push comes to shove, will that new center hold?
I’ll be honest and say that as optimistic as I try to be about B&B, I’m getting to the point where I just want to see SOMETHING that will give me hope. A look. A small slip. Anything. Hey, I’m human. I WANT to believe Booth has loved Brennan all along – that he STILL loves her and he’s just stuffing it down deep inside for fear of getting hurt again. But it’s hard to have hope given the current situation. And yet that’s exactly what HH is supposed to be doing right about now. He has to make us think that there’s no hope (you know the cliche – “it’s always darkest right before dawn…”). I suppose the question now is, how much darker is it going to get before the sun rises?
January 21, 2011 at 8:54 am
I think the ties are back to more sedate but was also wondering about the socks.
January 21, 2011 at 11:19 am
“A look. A small slip. Anything.” THIS is what I felt to be missing from this latest episode. I feel like we have seen bits of this all season, but I did not see this in the most recent ep. That’s one of the biggest things that hurt me. The rest? I’m basically alright with it. Saving grace? Clark speaking for us viewers.
But, as I tweeted yesterday . . .it is now hope and IMpatience for me. I need Booth to come around – now. I still have the faith, but for today I am feeling burdened by it.
January 21, 2011 at 12:26 pm
“I still have the faith, but for today I am feeling burdened by it.” You have such a way with words! That is pretty much exactly how I feel!
January 21, 2011 at 8:30 am
Ah, interesting question about feelings.
Stories function on both an intellectual and an emotional level, and on an intellectual level, I’m absolutely fine with this episode. It was both excruciating and necessary. The man we know could not do other than he did in finally telling Hannah; what’s of interest there I think is that he didn’t tell her right away. If I caught the conversation right, he struggled with the decision for a while before asking Sweets what he should do. Maybe it was because he simply didn’t want to have the conversation with Hannah, but I’m choosing to think the delay was for Brennan’s sake.
And now, it’s all out there, and I believe when we look back on this season, ‘Booth telling Hannah’ will be another turning point in their relationship. (And as some people were asking last night – what, exactly, did he tell her? Or rather, how much? I’m guessing a lot of key things were left out.)
Knowing the episode was necessary isn’t the only thing I know intellectually. I also know, thanks to Hart’s constant reassurances, that this turns out okay. That Booth and Brennan are still the end game. That the show is about them. We’ve been told that over and over, and have you ever stopped and thought about how bizarre that is in the world of television? Has there ever been another show where the writer said, ‘I’m going to tell you a story, but as we go along the way, I’m going to constantly be reassuring you about how it ends — that it ends the way you want it to.’ I mean, really? How weird – and wonderful, when our emotions are so at stake – is that?
Ah, but that’s my problem – and it is my problem. Stories, good ones, affect us on an emotional level. And emotionally? I’m wiped out. It’s over. They missed their moment. Booth not only doesn’t love her anymore, they’re not even friends, and I’m one blink from tears as I write that. But most episodes this season have had something I could point to to say, ‘see? he still cares about her.’ And this, when we perhaps most needed to see it after The Doctor in the Photo…didn’t. They didn’t have a single exchange that wasn’t case related. (At least not that I can remember.)
Furthermore, the show’s not even about them anymore. The focus of last night’s ep was undeniably Hannah. Her relationship with Booth, her relationship with Brennan. That was the message of the episode – Booth and Brennan are dead and over, not even friendship left. But they’re still both in relationship with Hannah, and we have to see how that shakes out.
So intellectually, I know it was an important episode, another turning point. I know it was necessary. But emotionally, there’s nothing left.
Is Booth lying about his feelings for Brennan all being in the past? I assume so, since we’ve still got those promises from Hart hanging out there. But right now, the part of me that’s grieving isn’t sure it matters, because feelings are odd things. It’s not what they are that matters, it’s what you do about them. That’s a major point in a lot of real life therapy situations: “you can’t control your feelings, but you are responsible for your actions, what you do about those feelings.”
And Booth’s actions are clear: no matter what his feelings for Brennan, assuming he has some, he’s choosing Hannah. And feelings don’t negate actions, particularly when those actions affect others. (For me, the single most heartbreaking moment of the episode was when Brennan said, ‘I shouldn’t have told him.’ The one person in her life she’s felt safe in ‘telling things to’ and now she knows she’s lost that. Oops. Tears again. Be right back.)
Were there signs of hope here? If I force past my emotions, yes. I think there were things in the episode itself that were intended to remind us that while it feels like the fat lady has not only sung, but gone home to eat chocolate…there’s still hope. The speed & intensity of Booth’s denial to Sweets; the fact that he waited as long as he did to tell Hannah; Clarke’s comment about his money still being on them.
I’ll hang onto those threads of hope, as thin as they feel right now, and be grateful we get another episode next week. Because yes, if you’re wondering…I’m still here. Still watching, still not giving up because my decision to watch or not (action) won’t be based on my emotions that are telling me it’s hopeless.
But Hart had better damn well keep those promises he’s made.
Er, sorry for the length of this…
January 21, 2011 at 9:15 am
Loved the juxtaposition of feelings and actions – something I’ve always said in my RL: “I love you” — “Yeah? And what are you doing about it?”
January 21, 2011 at 10:17 am
rynogeny, you have said exactly what I would like to say and so well, I will simply comment on your post.
Still totally depressed and since I don’t believe anything that HH says any more, I have pretty much lost all hope. But, as to action. Due to the anti-spoiler rule here, I can’t say what it is, but I have set a particular episode as my turning point: if it goes one way, I quit. If it goes a way that gives me something real to hang onto, then I’ll keep hanging on.
The sad/bad feelings have gotten too strong to not take action if there is nothing to turn them around soon. It is just a TV show, even if it’s one I adore.
January 21, 2011 at 8:39 am
As much as I find the current storyline superfluous, annoying, torturous…this is what we’re stuck with. With 6×10, the day arrived on the path to eventually, looking down at those feet on the path, finding them on a crazy-paving formed from flagstones of apathy and cobblestones of awkwardness, all packed together with the silt of empty promises.
Brennan and Booth have both fallen through their respective looking glasses – she finds that she has the capacity for something that she always protested that she was not capable of – he finds that he is incapable of carrying out that which he always protested that he was completely capable of. I’m not going to Booth-bash or Brennan-bash here…they are equally flawed…foreshadowed by talk of ‘completing’ and ‘complementing’, ‘the centre’, and soul mates with two faces, four arms and four legs. Together, they function….apart, they fall apart. When Brennan fell to bits in DitP, she reached out. When Booth is on the spot in BitB, he compartmentalizes. Yup, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Seels!
Just picking up on a couple of your thoughts here. With respect to ‘the fate way’, the man who believes in fate is revealed to be fatalistic. Booth’s reverence for ‘love’ and all that emphemeral jazz was dropped, along with his Ranger-issue pants under an Afghani fig tree. Conversely, our favourite Anthropologist and previously unapologetic seeker of relief for those good ol’ biological urges is the poster girl for celibacy. So now Booth has a different take on what ‘love’ is…and I’m not talking about Brennan as a reference point, because as you point out, she’s never been his lover. I find myself looking back at Booth and Cam, Booth and Rebecca, Booth and his lawyer girlfriend (who I will always refer to as Cut-throat Bitch from House)… In all of those prior relationships Booth was not acting like he does with Hannah, which as a mature person who can be objective about relationships, I’m just going to call it as I see it…immature. I had a think about what sticks in my craw about Booth and Hannah…it reminds me of a possessive, barely self-actualized coupling of a couple of high school seniors. Sure, they ‘say’ all the right words, go through the motions, but it hasn’t got substance…it hasn’t got heart. Wait, what?! Booth *is* the heart guy, right? Apparently not.
So B&B have cracked each other’s shells now and what is oozing out is a little suprising, she has heart leaking out under the hood, he has brains under there driving him forward (although the Jury is out on whether that would be the big brain, or the little one…or is that the big brain, and the bigger brain…*facepalm*).
At the end of the day, Booth…honesty about love?; in the past – hopelessly idealist; in the present – subject to an iatrogenic overload of dopamine and norepinephine. He needs to discover what true love really is, and admit it to himself…come to terms with it, before he can ‘give’ his love to anyone. I feel sorry for Hannah, if I were her, I’d run like heck. Even if Booth never makes it right with Brennan, Hannah has been equally been betrayed by his betrayal of Brennan’s ‘what is between us, is ours’.
January 21, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Listening to your interpretation on things always makes it better! 🙂
January 21, 2011 at 8:50 am
I think the characters themselves are bluffing when they say some things. So, just because they say something doesn’t make it true. At least Sweets knows the deal (and some of the others), but he knows you really can’t force anybody to accept the truth before they are ready. Many women would not want to be friends in that situation, but I actually do see Brennan and Hannah being the exception. They both care about Booth and know the other person is a big part of his life. But just because someone says they’re okay now, doesn’t mean they’re okay later. Truthfully, Booth has not been acting in a way toward Brennan that would make Hannah suspicious. We’ve seen Booth’s previous behavior, not Hannah, so of course we feel differently about the situation.
January 21, 2011 at 9:06 am
Okay, I am not as well with words as all of you but what I realized last night was something I haven’t seen mentioned at all….. Hannah said to Booth, “She is not going to get over just like that.”
And that right there is something that should be really looked at. Will that start to be the bug in Hannah’s ear? We know Booth didn’t just get over Brennan just like that either. She was out of sight and not in contact. He meets someone who is beautiful, smart, and attracted to him and WANTS to be with him when Brennan is NOT around. He comes back and is forced to see Brennan everyday again. That has to be a strain, still, even if all that is “in the past”. Also, Booth said he told her “it was NEVER going to happen” funny I seem to remember him telling her “everything happens eventually”. All he told Brennan in the car was that “I am with someone. I love her” Interesting food for thought.
Yes, he should have told Hannah and I am mad that he didn’t tell Brennan he told her about that. I believe Hannah doesn’t really know EVERYTHING that went on. There are things that we know she doesn’t know and that will come out soon with the sniper arc. Booth will be in crisis mode and Brennan is the one that knows him inside and out.
If we take Booth at face value, he is working so hard to be the perfect boyfriend since Hannah came to be with him. He is loving and attentive to her to the point of ignoring his friends (who are Brennan’s people). Hannah gave up her job for him. She choose to love him. Brennan didn’t give him that option. Booth heard what he wanted to hear, just like he heard “I love you” that wasn’t said. There is a lot of intercommunication going on between the two.
Bring it on…. let the cracks and doubt begin.
January 21, 2011 at 9:10 am
I once read an article in a magazine where the journalist was arguing that when we confess something we feel guilty about to our significant other (a secret, infidelity or anything) we do not always do it for reasons as pure as needing to be honest. Deep down, he/she said, there’s another, not-so-noble reason: the need to unload our guilt to another person. With the added plus of “being honest”, aka somehow making up for the mistake we might have made and not feeling like such a bad person anymore.
We’ve always known that Booth is a man of honor. Well, in this case, honor is a hazy concept. There’s the honor towards his partner of 5 years, with whom he has shared so much and who he *AT LEAST* USED TO love, to be discreet about her feelings, to make sure she shouldn’t regret confiding in him. And, there’s the honor towards his girlfriend, who he indeed knows for a substanially smaller period of time but who he *AT LEAST* BELIEVES he loves. And he has to make a choice: he has to choose which of these two is more important.
While I certainly understand his choice, I can’t help feeling sad about it, about what it means about his priorities at the moment and about how Brennan must feel about it (which wasn’t really addressed at the show). And a part of me can’t help but also think that there was a deeper, less noble reason that AT LEAST unconciously pushed him to decide that: the reason the journalist mentioned in that article.
I noticed the belt buckle too, when the chinese lady was offering to get him a new one. I’m not really sure about the ties, but I have a feeling they were much more “standard regulation FBI” too – they didn’t “pop out” as much (if that makes sense).
What makes me a little sad is, again, how Brennan must feel: having him say all about love being transcendent and eternal and there’s someone for everyone, blah, blah, and seeing him moving on so “effortlessly”… he is certainly reinforcing HER beliefs about love. Really doing a poor job of defending his views, there :p
As for the rest, whether he really loved/loves her or not and all, I’ve decided I’m just going to wait and see what happens and not over-analyze anything. Frankly, even though I logically can see his POV, I don’t think Booth “deserves” me overanalyzing his every action, at the moment, if that makes sense. And frankly, I think we women sometimes spend too much time trying to analyze “real” men’s feelings/words/actions; it’s too much doing it for fictional men, too. Luckily, in a TV show, unlike RL, if we have a little patience, all our questions will be answered (although, noone can know if we’ll like the answer). But that’s just me.
January 21, 2011 at 9:18 am
I don’t for one second believe that Booth is over Brennan. Oh, he thinks he is, but I think he’s at that stage where he’s starting to not even believe himself when he says that his feelings for Brennan are gone. He was too quick to tell Hannah he was over Brennan, and he just ZOOMED over the topic with Sweets. I’m coming out of some long-term relationship emotional upheaval myself (which does have a happy ending, yay), and speaking from personal experience, if you’re really over something, you can talk about it calmly and rationally. You take time to think about your answers because you have emotional distance from the topic and you’ve had time to reflect on what it really means. You don’t just speed over the topic. Believe me, I’ve been there. And speeding over the topic is what you do when you’re not ready to face the realities of it yourself. Going back to what Dr. Wyatt said in the DitD: “You’re building a world around her.” The way I see it, that’s true. Booth is building a world around her absence. And when it comes to a relationship, absence is still a form of presence.
I’m sure it’s been mentioned before how there’s a great deal of mirroring going on between the confessions in the 100th and DitP. Clearly, when Brennan said that she didn’t want to have regrets, Booth saw her doing what he did when he said “let’s try for a different outcome.” Neither one of them said “I love you,” and I think that’s a key point here. When Booth confessed to her in the 100th, he poured out his feelings, but never said those words. Now, in his mind, what he said amounts to a confession of love. And I’m sure Brennan realized that too, but since she never heard the actual words, it allowed her to refuse him more easily. Because it allowed her to compartmentalize his confession into something less that it was. So in last night’s episode, when we discover that Booth thinks Brennan said she loved him, we learn more about where Booth was at in the 100th episode–and why he was so hurt and ready to move on. In his mind, he said “I love you” to her; she refused him.
January 21, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Good point about the lack of an actual “I love you.” I’ve always felt like it wasn’t that big a deal that Booth didn’t say “I love you” in the 100th because he pretty much said it in every other way (both verbally and non-verbally). That Brennan didn’t say it either and yet that’s what he took from their conversation is very revealing.
January 21, 2011 at 9:54 pm
I think we’ve become a bit obsessed with those three words or just with the word love. In the 100th, Booth said he wanted to spend 30, 40 or 50 years with her — that’s a declaration of love in my book.
I think that Brennan was saying I love you, but given the circs, she talked around it. She in effect said that she should have agreed to 30, 40 or 50 years and that’s love.
January 21, 2011 at 9:42 am
Well, incredibly, this was the first episode where I could see Hannah as HH &Co pretend we see her: a smart, down to earth, pretty and nice woman who could be good for both Booth and Brennan. I don’t know exactly why, I liked her more this episode than any other because of her rational response to Booth’s confession about what brennan said, especially because there wasn’t a cat fight or anything among those lines.
I agree, Booth didn’t listened carefully enough OR he understood what he wanted too: that Brennan loved him (and she never said those words) but, if we get back to ep 100, he didn’t said “I love you” either. It’s there a slight fear to say ‘I love you” directly and not receiving the same response? It’s because they’re not in a “serious” and committed relationship, an official one? Will they ever be capable of saying without being afraid of the result?
I truly believe Booth thinks he has moved on, that he loves Hannah and that Brennan will move on too… that’s what the 3 people involved there believe is true… and (without telling any spoiler) this hyper-rational-love-triangle will get to its end when Hannah realises that nobody has moved on and will leave as quietly she came in the picture, hopefully, leaving our beloved couple one or two steps forward in their relationship
January 21, 2011 at 10:23 am
Interesting comments, Eloise. It’s something I couldn’t put my finger on, but you’ve said it here. This ep and this was true in an earlier ep for me as well, I saw something that made Booth and Hannah seem more like it was true/real/a good idea. I’m not sure what it was in the other ep, but I had this sick feeling that maybe Booth does love Hannah and could be truly happy with her.
I say all this while becoming more and more convinced that Booth is in total denial and “protesting” way too much that he’s over Brennan and in love with Hannah.
January 21, 2011 at 1:02 pm
I know what you mean. I never hated Hannah, because she’s really an innocent player in all this. She likes Booth, and she likes Brennan. She’s been treating Brennan like her partner’s close friend, and that’s cool. If Booth is going to be with someone else, would we really want him with someone shallow and petty? I think it looks better for Booth that Hannah is a nice girl.
However, it wasn’t really wise for Booth to start up another relationship in the emotional state he was in, even if it was understandable. So right now, I’m going to have to say Hannah is too good for the Booth she’s getting, and she deserves more. Whether he decides to give more eventually is all on him.
January 21, 2011 at 10:11 pm
C-bones – I think that Booth hooking up with Hannah was natural and normal and to be expected under the circs. What happens in Afghanistan stays in AFghanistan, sort of thing.
Neither expected to see the other again, but Hannah, knowing Booth in a very limited way, chose to follow him to DC. As someone who had built her career as a war correspondent, she 1) should understand how what happens in a war zone may be out of character and 2) should have been able to get a lot more info about Booth if she had wanted to. She took a bit of a flyer on Booth. That is not to denigrate Hannah at all, but to say that she was/is a big girl who chose to do this.
I don’t think either of them is more or less deserving or more or less too good or bad for the other. They are both the victims of their circumstances.
BTW, telling Hannah may feel like a betrayal to Bones, but there is no way Booth could not have told Hannah. This is information any person should share with their SO and someone like Booth would clearly feel the necessity of that more than most people. Bones gave up the privilege of “what’s ours is ours” when she turned Booth down as that put an end to the personal “ours.” The only “ours” she had a right to expect protected was the friend and partner ours. Once Booth moves on, the personal “ours” is with the woman he moves on with.
BTW, I am surprised that most people don’t seem to get that there are ways to split up H and Booth without Booth feeling rejected or rejecting Hannah. If Hannah comes to see that Booth really belongs with Brennan, then she can leave with that as an explanation. Booth may feel badly or be confused, but he hasn’t really been rejected, quite the opposite. Hannah will have done what Bones did: she will have stepped back so that Booth can truly be happy. That would be a nice parallel, I think.
January 21, 2011 at 10:03 am
Reading the post and the comments I kept thinking of different things I wanted to say, but now that I’m here in the comment box I can’t remember half of what I was thinking.
OK what I do remember was is that I wanted to comment on the Booth not showing cracks in his “I love Hannah!” mantra. I think the only place we could see that maybe he’s not so sure about this in last night’s episode was when he was talking to Sweets. In my opinion the reason for this is because Sweets is the only one who has been challenging him on hit feelings lately. Hannah of course believes him when he says he loves her and any feelings for Brennan are in the past. She’s seen no evidence to the contrary. Brennan also believes him when he says he’s moved on. I think it’s easy for her to believe because she always though love was ephemeral anyway, and it sure seems that Brennan just doesn’t think she’s loveable. So when no one is challenging his assertion of where his love lies it’s easy to maintain that facade, but when Sweets asks a simple question, or even just questions with a look Booth gets angry and defensive. That reaction might be reasonable if everyone were hounding him about it, doubting him, but that’s not the case.
On the issue of his stating that Brennan said she loved him. As already stated she never actually said that, but he also never said it in the 100th. He probably believes he did say it then. HH certainly seems to think that what Booth said in the 100th was that he loved her, and so he probably also believes that is what Brennan said in the DitP. So actully if the person in charge of the show thinks it was said does that mean it really was???
On not wearing Cocky, goodness they really were trying to make sure we saw that he was wearing a different belt buckle last night didn’t they. The way the pointed it out during the interrogation of the Chinese woman. I wonder if we’ll actually get an explanation of the change in the show or if it’ll all be left up to speculation on our part. I do wonder if they are sending messages to us. I mean he started wearing it during the Sully arc, and now has stopped during the Hannah arc. Will it reappear once they are done? Or is it gone for good now? What will either option say about him? Is it just that the ties and belt buckle are too much a reminder of the influence Brennan has had in his life to continue to wear after her confession in Doctor? Or maybe it was to catch her attention…stand out from the crowd for her, and after that confession he wants to make sure he is no longer drawing her attention in that way. I think I could go on for a while with speculation on this, but I think I’ll stop here.
OK I have to get back to work I’ve spent way to much time on here, and I have a ton of work to get done. This show and Bones Theory just has me so obsessed lately!
January 21, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I have a hard time seeing the cocky belt buckle being gone for good. At this point I think it’s pretty strongly tied to his character on the show. As Brennan said in The Plain in the Prodigy, it’s “Boothy.” I think there’s another explanation for why it’s gone and that we will eventually see it back. But that’s completely conjecture on my part.
January 21, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Since they flipped the order of this episode and the next I wonder if there is some explanation in the next one for why he’s wearing a different belt buckle?
January 21, 2011 at 4:54 pm
I want to think that booth not wearing his belt buckle is his unconscious way of wanting to catch brennan’s attention…. that he actually wants bones to notice that he no longer wear the cocky belt she gave him…. his subtle way also of saying that “I’m not myself anymore. Please help me find and get the real booth back. I need you”
January 21, 2011 at 10:36 am
I love Bones. Nothing is ever going to change that, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop watching no matter where the story line brings us. I’m pretty loyal to my shows….sometimes a bit too loyal. Haha. I think I have been dealing rather maturely with Season 6. I’ve been staying positive, I haven’t been hating on any of the characters, and I’ve been enjoying one of my favorite shows for what it currently is. (Those are all true for the most part. I admittedly slip every now and then. Hey, nobody’s perfect. 😉 ). However, I am allowed to be disappointed by it sometimes right? Last night I just felt so ‘blah’ after that episode. While I am feeling a wee bit of anger, I’m not sure why exactly. I’m not really mad at anyone I don’t think. Booth needs to distance himself from Brennan. Ok. Hannah is here and she loves Booth. Ok. Brennan needs to “move on.” Ok. I get all of these things. I accept all of these things.
Just because I am accepting all of this though doesn’t mean it can’t get me a little down. I guess last night’s episode just did not put me in a happy place. I do miss the Cocky belt buckle and the post case drinks. I miss the light hearted banter and Booth’s hand on the small of Brennan’s back. I think it’s ok to feel that way…right? So, why do I feel so guilty about it? Therapize me Bones Theory. 🙂
January 21, 2011 at 1:25 pm
I think it’s ok to feel that way. How can we feel good about this situation? The most we can do is have cautious hope. It did seem like a “paving the way” sort of episode. I’ve seen here on this post where people have picked up positive things here and there throughout the episode.
Anyways, that’s not my point. If we’ve already compared their situation to a break-up, I feel as though we’re heading to a divorce (except for continuing to work together.) That may sound even more depressing, but not everybody who calls for a divorce actually gets a divorce. It may take some hard discussions and self-evaluating, and some changes, but it can be done if each person is willing to fight to regain what got lost and start anew.
January 21, 2011 at 11:05 am
I thought I would mention something I haven’t seen mentioned about last night. We saw at the end, that Brennan was showing interest in someone who was at the bar that was showing interest in her. The guy turned out to be a sleeze looking for a three way. Brennan may have been trying to show Hannah that she is not interested in Booth any longer or maybe she is deciding to move on herself because Booth said he did. I wasn’t sure how to take that one. I wasn’t happy to see Hannah and Brennan together at the end but I am coming to think that this episode is suppossed to represent the very rock bottom that Brennan and Booth has hit in their relationship. After all, symbolically, they both got hit in the face with stuff from a sewer line earlier in the episode and that may have been a dig at us from HH. All we have is up now. How is that for optimism.
January 21, 2011 at 11:44 am
Great point about the sewage explosion-it’s definitely got to be meant as a metaphor for the current state of their relationship and maybe our feelings about it!
January 21, 2011 at 1:35 pm
If it so, poor Cam! lol SHe hasn’t done anything to deserve it!
Very interesting pov, though! 🙂
January 21, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Your right, Poor Cam. Just from personal experience, it is not unusual for an innocent bystander to get it when the stuff hits the fan. When the stuff flies, anyone standing near the intended victims will also get it.
January 21, 2011 at 11:40 am
Many episodes in the Bones universe are significant; conversely, some are more place-holding/bridgey episodes whose main purpose seems to be either moving the story along at a teensy weensy pace or giving context to a future situation. I feel this way about last night’s episode, the main purpose of which, in my opinion, was to plant the seeds of doubt in Hannah as well as to give Sweets more room to interact with B/B re their relationship now that he knows more about it. It wasn’t my favorite and it left me feeling blah myself, but I think it served to give us a little breathing room between TDitP and the upcoming and presumably intense sniper arc (I hope this isn’t considered a spoiler-if it is, please let me know and I’ll make sure I don’t allude to these things in the future). The place holder episode also highlights those other times when the story makes our hearts beat faster.
As to Booth’s admission to Hannah, while I’m not thrilled about it, I believe it is totally in character for him. Booth is a devout Catholic and probably feels the need to confess in order to unburden his soul and receive absolution. The fact that he needed to share his past (yeah, right) feelings about Brennan and her current feelings towards him with Hannah indicates that he is very stressed over the situation and has guilt over it. If neither of their admissions meant anything I don’t think he would have had the need to “come clean.” It’s almost as if talking about the situation will make it go away which can’t be true, if all the foreshadowing in the past is to be believed. So I’m not worried, for now at least. I think the episode was meant to be uncomfortable in that it sets Booth up as being decisively over Brennan and will make it so much more difficult and dramatic for him when he is forced to admit that he isn’t.
January 21, 2011 at 12:16 pm
First off I would just like to get this off my chest now- I had to watch that episode in 5 minute segments in order to get through it, and even worse the last minute and a half in 10 second segments. It just did not flow, it felt fake, like the whole episode, was everyone putting up a front of normal. To further my argument I shall provide examples, a) the quietness of the lab, Clark comments on this, it is like the whole Jeffersonian has lost it energy, this led to Clark compensating also just seemed awkward it was like him being a squintern leads him to not know that it was time to buckle down the hatches and take cover. b) Hodgins being out of the lab for an extended period of time, to me that showed he didn’t feel comfortable there. c) Cam trying to keep the peace, not adding to Clark’s conversation keeping it about being professional as if she knows that is what Brennan needs. d) Angela’s somewhat delicate way of telling Brennan she was being avoided (side note how awful must that have been for Brennan who isn’t sure of herself socially) usually I always felt Angela was a direct person, this seemed like she was in protection mode to. It’s like they were all waiting for an explosion from Brennan.
So furthermore from this evidence I see a theme throughout. Which lead me to believe we are meant to be seeing Booth as also treading carefully and putting up a front? He asked Sweets if he should tell Hannah because Hannah and Brennan are friends, to me he was looking out for Brennan once again- protecting her from Hannah inadvertently hurting Brennan.
He is determined to forget is feelings for Brennan because now in all this angst him actually having feelings for Brennan and not being able to succumb to them will just end p hurting Brennan more. It’s not that he doesn’t have them it is that he feels he shouldn’t, not only because of Hannah but also because of Brennan.
Brennan and Booth said they Love each other admittedly not very well. He is not good at explaining himself (e.g. it’s from my gut, never having a ‘real’ answer). She is not good at expressing emotions (e.g. she got an influx of gas in her stomach due to anxiety which is Physiological explanation not emotions). But they understood each other, which is part of why there special. And why I do believe they will figure it all out (as the theme for last week stated) eventually. 🙂
January 21, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Heah, that was pretty good. I didn’t think of this episiode like that; but, I think this is a very good view point. What if everyone IS walking around Brennan as if they are afraid for her. She did had a breakdown last episode and everyone was probably scared spitless when they saw what was happening with Brennan. You could be right. Everyone, including Booth, is doing their best to shield Brennan from further emotional harm. If that is the case, that explains why Booth was asking Sweets for advice on whether or not to tell Hannah what happened. I still stand by what I said about him mis-hearing and mis-remembering what Brennan said during her breakdown; but, his concern about whether or not to let Hannah know and how that would effect Brennan would seem spot on. I also agree that he does love Brennan; but, he will not put himself out there again to hurt her or himself. He has been through rejection twice and if he mis-steps a third time that could be the end of his partnership. I truly believe that if Booth did not love Brennan there is no way he would still be working with her. He would have left that partnership and probably even that Federal District to get away from her. Because he is still working with her makes me believe he does love her and wants to be near her. He feels he has to seek a personal relationship with someone else to satisfy his emotional need; but, he still needs his Bones. He still wants her, even if it to just work with her.
January 21, 2011 at 12:36 pm
When Brennan confessed she missed her chance in DitP, that changed everything and opened up that old wound for Booth, and we see him distancing himself even further by not wearing the Cocky belt buckle. Not surprising to me…I expected it to be gone before now. Brennan says that maybe she shouldn’t have told Booth…and I’m kinda with her on that. Her confession relieved her of not having regrets, but really…what did it do to Booth? It just brought him more pain that he’s been trying desperately to avoid.
I really have a bone to pick (hee hee) with the BFF relationship of Brennan and Hannah, but I won’t open that can of worms right now…other than to say it must play a part in this whole mess somewhere down the line. I just haven’t figured out how yet…and that bugs me. And another thing that bugs me is the lack of what I term “drama” in HH’s storytelling. The show pretty much takes a more subtle approach to conflict and emotions (with very few exceptions). I’d like to see a little more angst and shouting, but that’s not his style, and for the most part it works well…but there are times when I just want someone to really let go…you know? Ok…back to the point…
For all Booth’s denials that he no longer has feelings for Brennan, there are signs in this episode that show he is internally conflicted – no matter what he says. I noticed that Booth touched Brennan as they entered the restaurant to meet with the elderly Chinese lady. Then Booth says to Hannah about confronting Brennan…that Hannah should go easy because Brennan is not like everyone else. Booth is revealing that he cares about Brennan’s feelings and doesn’t want to hurt her and knows how special she is…and that shows me that he cares and wants to protect her. No feelings, huh? Ha! And the way Booth reacts to Sweets tells a lot. Sweets keeps bringing up Brennan, and it’s no wonder that Booth finally tells Sweets in this episode to stop doing that (because it’s still too painful). After Sweets asks Booth if he’s told Hannah yet, and Booth replies that he hasn’t, but he will, there is a very brief moment where he has a look on his face that shows, to me, that he is struggling over this. The fact that he tells Hannah at all is interesting – since he hasn’t told her anything else about his past – and I can only conclude that he does so in order to control what he may fear, internally, as an out-of-control situation.
The most disturbing and telling moment for me happens in the interrogation room when the elderly Chinese lady is being questioned by Booth and the young officer investigating the fake purse ring. When the other two are yelling at each other, did anyone else notice that Booth really loses his cool and yells at them to stop? His facial expression almost borders on rage…at least that’s the way it appeared to me. So that said a lot about where his mind is right now, because I don’t believe the old Booth would have lashed out like that. There was really no reason for him to react that emotionally, except that he’s on the edge…he’s not in control.
Something has to happen to back Booth into a corner where he has to come to terms with all those feelings and emotions that are eating away at him. They’ve been buried so deep down and negated to the point where they are inaccessible. I can only wonder what it will take for Booth to question his decisions.
January 21, 2011 at 1:20 pm
ShrinkyMojo, you took the words right out of my mouth! Everything you said about Booth and his internal conflicts, I absitively agree with you on, and I am so, so, so glad I’m not the only one who saw those things.
That touch in the Chinese restaurant. Oh man. It made my little shipper heart go pitter-patter. Because no matter what these two say, no matter what they do, no matter how they introduce each other to new people, when they don’t let their brains get in the way, they are still completely and totally comfortable with each other and comfortable sharing space.
And when he lost it in the interrogation room? Oh my gosh. Booth is starting to crack. All I could think of was the Iceland metaphor from End in the Beginning. He’s been playing it cool, but there’s a volcano simmering under there and when it finally blows, it’s going to blow in a big, big way.
Probably the most heart wrenching moment for me, was when Booth told Sweets to drop it and get lost, the look that passed over his face… oh man. I really feel sorry for Booth. But, bravo, David Boreanaz, bravo. Would someone please give him and Emily Deschanel their freaking Emmys already? Please?
Other than the things you mentioned, there was the interaction between Booth and Brennan in the Chinese herb shop. Brennan gave his arm a glancing touch, but then withdrew it, almost as though saying to herself she needed to not do it anymore. And then there was that powerful visual were they were standing on either side of that counter (or would divider be a more accurate term here?) but they kept sliding each other looks, and when one would make eye contact, the other looked away as though slightly embarrassed at having been caught looking. Right up until the very end of the scene. Then they looked at each other, and while it wasn’t eye sex, I got the feeling that there was more going unsaid between them than “oh, hey we got another lead, we need to go to Mama Yu’s restaurant.”
The other scene that really hit me was when they were in the interrogation room talking to Jenny’s fiancee. At first they were both leaning on the table, very intent on the man across the table. Then Booth looks over at her and something passes over his face as he realizes that his body language is identical to Brennan’s. And he makes a very deliberate and blatant change in the way he’s sitting. And it’s got nothing to do with putting the suspect at ease, because this is not laid back “talk to me” Booth. He’s edgy and irritable and feels a bit like a man on the brink of snapping.
And then there’s the dialogue in that scene and all the subtext swirling around it. “What if you make a mistake?” “I don’t make mistakes.” Pause for a significant look between Booth and Brennan. “No she doesn’t.”
SO… She doesn’t make mistakes? But in DitP she says she did make a mistake. So does that mean she didn’t make a mistake in the 100th, or she didn’t make a mistake in telling him how she feels in DitP? Or are they just talking about in her work? (Yeah, right, it’s never just about work with these two.) And maybe I’m reading waaaaay too much into that one line of dialogue, but I don’t know what that means. And I want to know. Argh!
January 21, 2011 at 2:12 pm
I noticed the mistakes part too and was going to mention it but I got distracted by cocky. 🙂
Anyway, I’m definitely glad I’ll be rewatching the episode tonight so that I can take a closer look at some of the non-verbal communication. As usual it seems like what’s actually coming out of people’s mouths only tells half the story.
January 21, 2011 at 2:24 pm
I noticed this too, and I believe it was very significant. Not sure exactly what to glean from it, but it has meaning.
January 21, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I was just thinking about the scene where they interrogate the fiancé too: that look that crosses Booth’s face when Brennan says the rhino thing is used by men “because they’re HOT”… oh man! Real good-old uncomfortable-about-sexual-innuendo-around-Brennan Booth, there! 🙂
January 21, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Jade…I caught the other things you mentioned too…Brennan touching Booth, the eye play in the herbal shop, and the dialogue about Brennan not making any mistakes, but I felt my post was long enough already to go into anything else.
However…since you brought it up, I am also a little confused by the “no mistakes” conversation, and most likely reading way too much into it, but here are my thoughts about it. As far as I can remember, Brennan does not make mistakes professionally. But she admits her mistake in turning Booth down – now – but at the time she said it, she wasn’t capable of realizing what she wanted…so, it doesn’t count as a true mistake. Does that make sense? A mistake – to me – means that when Brennan said those words, they were wrong, but that wasn’t the case. Brennan believed what she said – and Booth took her at her word that she wouldn’t change, because she is who she is – the woman who speaks her mind honestly no matter what. Now then…factor in her admission of regret, which, again, is a truthful statement from Brennan…but one that Booth is totally floored by. He never expected to hear those words – and he’s shocked that she did change her mind, but he doesn’t doubt her. He knows she means it…and this just makes him feel all the more edgy. By Booth saying that she doesn’t make mistakes, he is validating her statements in both instances, and in fact, that is what makes the situation so sad. Booth now has the proof he wanted so badly…that Brennan does have feelings for him…yet he’s not in a position to reciprocate those feelings. It just sucks being Booth right now.
Ooh, I did not catch the change in position that Booth did while interrogating Jenny’s fiancée. Thanks for pointing that out. I will have to go back and re-watch. Sometimes it takes me three viewings to really take in everything!
January 21, 2011 at 7:04 pm
I had to go back and rewatch to catch the moments you mentioned, but Wow! Especially Booth losing it in the interrogation room. He is going to snap, this is a man in deep denial.
January 21, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Loved your analysis of the little moments and the body language – yes, they definitely are very awkward around each other, but it’s pretty low key.
About the ‘I don’t make mistakes’ – ‘No she doesn’t’ exchange, I basically think it’s all about what happened in DiTP and it goes something like this. Brennan: ‘I don’t make mistakes’ = “I’m going to take it all back and pretend it never happened because it never did. It was just a momentary slip, not a real admission that I had made a mistake”. Booth gives her that: “No, she doesn’t” = “That works for me. I’ll also pretend it never happened”. It’s one of those exchanges where it’s ostensibly about something else but in fact it’s about their issues. I don’t know if I’m formulating this very clearly, though.
January 22, 2011 at 12:45 am
LOL ShrinkyMojo, I know exactly how it feels when you start wondering if your post is too long. 😛
I really like your take on the mistakes comment. Totally makes sense to me. Thanks! And you’re right: it does suck to be Booth right now.
And I know where you are coming from with the multiple viewings before you catch it all, too. I’ve had times when I’ve watched a scene, rewound it and watched the scene again making sure to pay attention to the person who is not speaking at the time. I pick up all kinds of interesting things that way.
Also, I feel compelled to correct myself – when Brennan touched Booth’s arm it was in the restaurant kitchen, not the herb shop. The rest of the stuff happened in the herb shop, just not her touching his arm.
JPSTG: yeah, that look between Booth and Brennan was great.
Loraine: Yeah, Booth is going to snap. And it’s going to be really interesting to watch the character development that comes from it.
Festina: I agree that there was subtext swirling in that exchange, but I didn’t get a “I’m taking it back” vibe from her. Brennan just isn’t the kind of person to take things back. She says what she means. I definitely think Booth wishes it would all just settle down so life could just go back to normal. But I don’t think he can pretend it didn’t happen either, or he wouldn’t have been all eaten up with guilt over whether or not to talk to Hannah.
January 22, 2011 at 2:44 am
Sorry, I have no insight for the “I don’t make mistakes” moment, other than it meant something. The first time I saw them going to meet the purse lady, I thought Booth’s actions were to make them look like a couple to the lady – but then watching it again they really didn’t need a cover, so unconscious behavior? I also saw a more internally conflicted Booth watching a second time.
Also, the interrogation with Jenny’s boyfriend. I saw way more the second time viewing thanks to comments here (guess I caught nothing the first time). Besides the beginning B&B moments already stated, I think there was another one or two, at least one on Booth’s end. Booth says “If you couldn’t have her then no one could” and looks at Brennan. Then the boyfriend was talking about how he didn’t hurt Jenny because he loved her and didn’t want her to change her identity. Okay, good boyfriend response and Booth’s listening…but not looking at the suspect, he’s looking at Brennan, who’s busy getting tibia measurements. I don’t know about the first look, but I don’t think the second was a “Can you believe this guy?” or “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” look, but I’m still not sure what to think of them and what it means for Booth.
Just on a side note. I read a lot of fanfic, and I know other people on here do too, or write it. I’m happy to see Brennan continuing to live life, albeit struggling with feelings, rather than giving up. She sees how her decisions got her to where she is and she’s accepting that. But she perseveres. That’s my girl. (Not trying to knock writers, but if Brennan was like that it would make me sadder and more worried for her.)
January 21, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for the insightful discussion and questions, Sarah! As always, it’s brilliant and challenging and interesting!
As for what’s happening with Booth now and what he feels… I think he’s basically freaking out. Big time. I don’t believe for a moment that he tells Hannah about his ‘history’ with Brennan because he wants to be honest with her. I think he feels that “doing the right thing” in this instance would relieve him of some of the guilt he carries, somewhere deep down, about not having been patient enough or maybe even a good enough friend to Brennan. So he kind of spills the beans to Hannah because at least he’s doing one honourable thing in the whole mess. But it’s not about honesty. it’s about making himself feel a little better.
As for the belt buckle’s absence – all I can say is “of course”. He’s not the man Brennan made him: gentle, caring, the whole ‘knight in shining armour’ thing. He’s just a poor schmuck trying to make the best of being with a pretty, sexy, intelligent woman. Who is not Brennan, but let’s not go there.
But overall… nope. I’m really not sure that there is a plausible “eventually” any more.
January 21, 2011 at 1:01 pm
I am really lost right now. I feel the storytelling is so subtle that I am really afraid that I am reading more into it than is there. Does anyone else feel this way? If the absence of the Cocky, and everyone working together rather than in these distant, quiet little groups is intentional, then I am more than okay with it. If Booth’s appearance of really and truly having moved on is what we are supposed to see, then great. My fear is that the writers think we are seeing drama and tension and feeling things when we aren’t being given enough to go on. I guess I just want to know they really do have a plan to bring all of this together. I want to see the conflict of emotion in Booth and Brennan. I want to see Sweets digging deeper because he fears what is happening to his people. I just want….more. Like I said, if this is intentional, then I appreciate the subtlety and pacing of the story very much. If not, then I am really at a loss. I am on this ship for the long haul, no matter what, and I do believe our patience will be richly rewarded.
January 21, 2011 at 3:14 pm
The fact that you’re right only makes it harder.
Don’t get me wrong. I love how in character this all is. I think it’s beautiful storytelling. But… When he said that… it was like someone was twisting the knife in my chest.
It wasn’t a surprise or anything. I went into this episode thinking, “You can get through this. It’ll hurt, but you can.” I knew he was going to say he didn’t love her; but it still broke my heart just a little bit more.
January 21, 2011 at 5:39 pm
Really love this post, and all the responses to it! Great to hear everyone’s different thoughts and things they noticed.
There were some very telling and interesting exchanges in this episode – something I noticed (please tell me if I’m wrong!) is that Booth told Sweets that Brennan ‘still’ had feelings for him. Which I thought was interesting – he told GG in Dwarf that ‘she doesn’t love me, I’d know if she loved me’.
So, what changed between then and now which told Booth that she does have feelings for him? Could it be that after the 100th, he realised that she wasn’t saying she didn’t feel that way about him, but that despite those feelings, she still couldn’t do it. And does that make her rejection easier or harder to bare?
I love the observational skills of Bones fans! I noticed the lack of cocky belt button and the subdued ties and thought it was interesting. Also, the minute touches between them that still reveal an underlying closeness. There was definitely something behind the ‘I don’t make mistakes’ exchange, was he backing her up or does it reveal some other way they are looking at the car conversation?
I think the lack of vocal ‘I love you’s are very intentional. It allows for misunderstandings and subjective reflections, we see the characters put their own inflections on those conversations.
This episode was quite hard to watch in places – but I’m hoping they are racking up the tension for a reason!
ps: when Sweets and Booth were watching the sex tape and Sweets commented that the guy was really ‘going for it’ and Booth told him it was on fast forward – cracked me up. That’s some old school Bones humour.
January 21, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Remember what happened the last time someone had evidence on them? None of this “scrape it off into evidence bags” business. *sigh* But I digress…
After watching last night’s episode twice now, I find that I have so many questions. I posted last night on Twitter that I thought the episode felt off – like when you put your left shoe on your right foot. It’s still a foot with a shoe on it, it just feels weird. The characters are all there, and they’re moving the story along appropriately, but to me, it just feels weird. There are questions for which I can’t come up with suitable answers, such as: Why would Sweets ever assume that Brennan would come right out and say I love you? Why would Booth lie and say that’s what she said?
Booth tells Sweets that Brennan admitted to him that she “kind of still has feelings for, you know…” Still? Meaning that at some previous time Brennan had made her feelings known to Booth and those feelings have remained up to this time? She told Booth she would adjust. She hasn’t given Booth any indication that she’s not adjusting, has she?
Maybe I’m focusing too much on the exact words Booth said, but almost everything he said made me think, “Really?” Granted, we don’t see the whole conversation, but we do see that Booth tells Hannah that Brennan loved him. What the… what? It’s not that he got mixed signals from the universe. Brennan said certain things directly to him, and now he’s putting words in her mouth, and I don’t like it.
Booth tells Hannah, “I told her (Brennan) it was never gonna happen.” No, that’s not really what you said. But you did really tell her once that everything happens eventually. All the stuff that you think never happens.
Then he sort of admits to Hannah that he felt something for Brennan “whatever it was,” but that’s in the past and all that “whatever” – that’s what he feels for Hannah now. No offense Hannah, but if I were you, that wouldn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Also, I think it’s interesting that when everyone’s talking about feelings and relationships and such, there’s a constant switching between present tense to past tense and back again. It happened in the scene when Booth tells Hannah and again when Hannah tells Brennan.
Another commenter brought up the touching between Brennan and Booth, and I admit, I noticed it immediately, probably because I knew I would overanalyze the way they interacted after what happened in DitP. In the restaurant, Booth physically moved Brennan out of the way so that he could go first following Mama Liu into the kitchen. I chalked that up to Booth’s natural reflex to protect his partner – they were following this woman into someplace unfamiliar.
I didn’t even get to discuss how adorable Angela and Hodgins were or if I think Brennan and Hannah can really be friends. Short answers – very and no.
And what about this? Brennan says, “Rhinoceros horn is only used on men because they’re hot.” To which Booth adds, “We are.” A tiny glimpse of the B&B of old? Tiny.
This comment has totally gotten out of hand, but I have to wrap this up by discussing Dr. Edison. I love that Brennan says that Dr. Edison’s girlfriend is wrong in saying that the workplace can be a healthy social environment. But what is the motivation for the radical change to Dr. Edison’s character? It seems as though the one thing we knew about him no longer applies. Maybe it was just so he could let us know that he’s shipping B&B too. “My money’s on Dr. B and Booth.” Mine too, Dr. Edison, mine too.
January 22, 2011 at 1:41 am
Oh, good catch on the tense switches. I didn’t notice that. Guess I’ll just have to watch the episode again. 😉
What we got to see of the conversation with Booth and Hannah was very interesting the second time around. I say the second time, because the first time through I was having to keep from getting irritated with Booth for being the honorable man that he is and being honest with his girlfriend. 😛
The second time through though, it was very interesting to watch Booth’s face and body language and I went from having been irritated to just feeling bad for Booth. The guy is stuck in a rough spot.
As a bit of set up to what I’m about to say, I watched Mastodon in the Room the other day. There is a scene in the observation room where Sweets is breaking down the Logan Bartlet’s father’s interview, and Sweets believes the father is being open and honest because his facial expressions go to his whole face and he’s open with his body language.
So, back to this ep – and if someone else has pointed this out already, I apologize, I haven’t seen mention of it, but there are a lot of posts here today and it’s possible I missed something. With that conversation from MitR in mind, watching the scene between Booth and Hannah takes on a whole lot more meaning if you pay attention to Booth’s face and body language.
When he’s talking about the feelings or “whatever” and about what he told Brennan, his eyes don’t move much. He looks away a couple of times. He’s talking, but his expressions aren’t going to his whole face, it’s mostly around the mouth and he mostly keeps facing forward. And then when he’s telling Hannah to be careful if she talks to Brennan, when he’s showing his concern for Brennan’s feelings, his expressions are going to his whole face and he has kind of turned towards Hannah a little.
Also, I thought the choice of venue was intriguing. Booth being Booth, I’d think a heart to heart would be something he’d want to have in a more private setting. But he does it in a bar. It’s almost as if he’s thinking “if I do this at home, she’s going to freak because she’ll know there is more going on, but if I do it in the bar, it’s casual.” Not that Booth and Brennan haven’t had really deep conversations in bars and restaurants and diners, but the really big stuff between them as always been in private.
Maybe I’m reading too much into all of it, but I’d like to think I’m not because nothing in this show is ever done halfheartedly or without a great deal of paying attention to details.
Also, I totally agree with you about Hodgins and Angela – I loved the scene when he was messing with the plumbing. “I brought you food, but the baby got hungry” and “the baby loves pudding” and that little grin she gives him. So totally cute.
January 22, 2011 at 8:55 pm
I like what you said about reading too much into things because I feel like I do that all the time! But you’re right – it seems like things are usually done intentionally. So I appreciate your observations of Booth’s facial expressions and body language. Now I’m going to have to go back and watch again! When I re-watch this episode, I find that I like it more and more. Don’t get me wrong though – I don’t love it or anything. I don’t think Brennan and Hannah can really be BFF, but I do kind of want to be sitting at the bar doing shots with them. Brennan is just so dang cute with the whole barkeep thing! And I agree with you about how Angela says that “the baby loves pudding” – so, so cute!
January 22, 2011 at 11:40 pm
LOL glad I’m not the only one who does it. 😉
I too found that on the second viewing I liked it more than I did the first time. I’ve been finding that with all of this season’s episodes. Except for Doctor in the Photo. I loved that one right off.
I find I’m not minding Hannah as much anymore either. I don’t see Hannah and Brennan as BFFs, but I can see where they have a lot in common beyond their feelings for Booth and feel like a friendship between them is believable. I think that if they had not met because Hannah’s with Booth, none of us would have a problem buying a friendship between them. They are both smart, strong, independent women; neither is hampered by modesty, and they both have a drive to find out the truth in their chosen fields. I also think they each have a lot of respect for the other and genuinely like one another.
Part of me kind of hopes that, no matter what happens between Booth and Hannah and Booth and Brennan, (and don’t get me wrong, I’m with Clark on this one all the way) that Brennan and Hannah are able to keep their friendship going in some way, because I think it’s healthy for Brennan to have a gal-pal who is outside of the realm of the lab. And I totally agree with you about the end scene. I thought hanging with them looked like fun, too!
February 14, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Jade, your take on body language is so spot on. Booth is closed off. His left hand is close to his body and even when Hannah tugged at it, he barely moved it. It was like he was giving her the elbow.
Brennan and Hannah as BFFs because of Booth – noooooooooooooooooooo. Brennan even saying she had to move on – what????????????????? It really felt off. Unless Brennan felt that since Booth told Hannah about their conversation, it is ok to discuss that with Hannah too. Yuk.
January 21, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Did anyone notice the tone of Brennan’s voice in this episode? It was lower pitched, slower and quieter, almost as if she was purposely trying to keep calm and under control, but with a hint of despair. I had a hard time with this episode. I am kind of in a “funk”, as I was after the TDitP. I have been so emotionally invested in this show for so long and right now there is a feeling of hopelessness. They’ve hit rock bottom, and as another post alluded to, literally with sewage in their faces. I miss those B/B moments… when the looks exchanged between them give you butterflies in your stomach, and give you a little glimner of hope that despite the fact that the two are still so far apart, there is something there… that they will indeed have their “eventually”. They aren’t really even friends anymore. It seems like Booth is working with Sweets more than he is with Brennan.
Moments in the episode that made me sigh: (paraphrasing for the most part)
1. The conversation between Angela and Brennan about how Hannah is avoiding her. Brennan asks Angela what study she is quoting from and Angela replies “the school of common sense”.
2. Booth telling Hannah what Brennan said. I know… they’re a couple… But, what happened to what goes on between them (B/B) is theirs? Is that why Brennan was so suprised when Hannah told her and Brennan said “He told you?!”. Booth is the one that Brennan could always confide in. Maybe this will force her to share more with Angela about what is really happening inside her head. I love the talks between those two.
3. Brennan telling Hannah (of all people) that Angela told her to “move on” and then some sleazeball promptly comes over and tries to proposition her and Hannah into a threesome…
4. No more cocky belt buckle….
Things that gave me some hope:
1. Clark saying his money was on Booth and Dr. B. We know that HH and Co. like to throw future clues into episodes. And Stephan Nathan tweeted that Bones fans need to be patient. (Hope and patience?)
2. Brennan telling the fiance of the victim that she doesn’t make mistakes, and Booth seconding that.
To me this is Brennan saying she didn’t make a mistake finally telling Booth her feelings and Booth understanding that she needed to do that (and agreeing it wasn’t a mistake either). Somewhere in his subconscious mind he is saying to himself- she does love me after all… and he’s conflicted.
In the future, when his emotional guard is down… when he doesn’t have the energy to hold up the walls he’s now been putting around his heart (trying to keep Brennan out)… he’ll remember this.. and Brennan, hopefully, will be there to catch him when he falls. She is, after all, the one who knows him so well. When he finally needs her, she won’t run away. She understands his conflicts after all these years- what he’s gone through. Hannah doesn’t know him that well. My hope for the future is that the connection they have forged together (after 6 years) can’t be broken, despite the posturing that’s going on now. The underlying knowledge and trust they have for one another will bring them together again. I think I feel better now….writing this was kind of cathartic.
January 21, 2011 at 11:57 pm
I don’t need the Brennan and Hannah BFF either. I’ve already said it’s understandable that they would make the effort, but I’ve thought about it some more. It’s even more in line with Brennan’s character than I thought. She does have a tendency to have these kind of awkward relationships in relation to Booth (not to mention the ones not in relation to him):
1. Jared – Booth’s little brother. She liked him, even kissed him.
2. Hacker – Booth’s boss’s boss. With possibility for sex (at least it seemed like it didn’t actually happen)
3. Now Hannah – Booth’s girlfriend.
Brennan might get a tad more excited in trying to get to know and interact with people she knows are close to Booth in some way – Parker, Jared, Pops, and now Hannah. I think she was curious about Tessa and Rebecca, but she seemed more put off with Cam initially, but that could have been the job position thing. I think it’s part of her effort to get closer to Booth and try to figure him out.
January 22, 2011 at 3:25 am
I totally agree! 🙂
January 22, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Yes I think you’re on to something here. I do agree also her conflicts with Cam were more job related than Booth related.
January 21, 2011 at 11:59 pm
first let me say – excellent post and comments– This is the all time high number of comments I have seen. Yeah Bones Theory!
I love the new outspoken Clark. Maybe his wit and charm is supposed to fill the void left by the rest of the cast. I love the Hodgins/Angela exchanges and family time.
Hannah’s “friendship” with Brennan seems unreal to me. Hannah just seems fake, shallow and selfish. She only wants to be friends with Brennan to get the scoop on Booth (remember her girl’s night out request so ‘we can dish about Seeley’) and keep Brennan away from him. She is using Brennan and that really makes me not like her/trust her even more.
I don’t know what to think of Booth’s interpretation of Brennan’s confession. She didn’t say “I love you” or even say she believed in love. He talked to Sweets in the gym – not a good place to have an honest, deep conversation. Hopefully Sweets will have more insight into the whole ‘She said she loves me’ aspect later. Booth had to tell Hannah that Bones said she had feelings for him so he could control how the information was presented and not have it come from someone else or in an uncontrolled way. Brennan had to realize that Booth’s moral compass would require that he tell Hannah and so I don’t think Brennan would think that is a violation of the “what’s between us is ours” thing. She had to get it out in the open and I still think that was a good thing she did.
Regarding the change in Booth’s wardrobe — it will be interesting to see if the cocky belt buckle issue is revisited. Booth wouldn’t have thrown it away. He can say it is just a memory but if Hannah knows it came from Brennan (even without the whole ‘codpiece’ reference), she can’t be happy with that.
Regarding the “I don’t make mistakes” comment where Booth agreed. I didn’t see that as a commentary on her rejection and confession but more of a work thing. Booth is compartmentalizing there. Maybe if he thinks about that later, it will click that she is confirming that her feelings expressed in DitP were not a mistake but I doubt it.
I’ve got to re-watch now to catch all this body language I missed!
January 22, 2011 at 12:13 am
Wow. Selfish seems pretty harsh. I thought it was pretty common that if you’re going out with somebody and you meet their friends, you’d like to get some info from their angles. Although, perhaps it’s more of a girl thing? When Hannah asked for a girl’s night out, in her mind she was talking to a good friend of her boyfriend, someone he knew him really well.
As far as the whole love thing is concerned, I’m not really sure. It doesn’t seem like they needed to say it at the time because apparently that’s what they implying and that’s what was being heard. Anyway, declarations of love aren’t usually required in just giving a relationship a chance. They can make those declarations later if they feel the need to. Communication is verbal and nonverbal, and different things work for different couples. They have to figure out what’s right for them.
January 22, 2011 at 12:44 am
C-bones – Agreeing with you on Hannah. I’ve been in a very similar position and the girlfriend and I used to dish the guy ALL the time. I think it would be even more so if they other person knew the guy so much better and for so much longer. Esp when the friends and co-workers are right there for you to interact with.
I want H gone just as much (if not more) than the next person, but there’s nothing wrong with her. Maybe she’s rather self-absorbed, immature, arrogant, whatever, but she is hardly the only one. She’s a decent person and seems to genuinely love Booth.
Bashing Hannah, Booth or Bones is unwarranted and unnecessary. There are no “bad guys” here — that’s what makes it all so complicated, heart breaking and such good storytelling. Like life: its gray, not black and white. Also, why I hate it. ;-D
January 22, 2011 at 6:33 am
I watched the episode again last night with my husband and I have to say that I was much more encouraged this time (thanks, in part, to all of the insightful observations from my BT pals!). My husband had heard some of my comments and went into it expecting to not to like it at all. Surprisingly, he felt that it was a solid episode and that the B/B/H interactions were pretty natural (and I actually think I agree with him on the second part). I love the fact that so much of this show is based on non-verbal communication because it means that I can rewatch episodes over and over again and still pick up stuff that I missed on previous viewings.
I do want to bring up something about Brennan and Hannah that I haven’t really seen mentioned before. When Angela was telling Brennan that Hannah’s actions meant that she was avoiding her, Brennan was genuinely upset. And it hit me during that scene, and again during the scene on the street and the scene at the FF, that perhaps Brennan wants to be friends with Hannah not for Booth, but for herself. I mean, she doesn’t have many friends (outside of Booth and the gang at the Jeffersonian) who are willing to accept her, or that even like her, just the way she is. Hannah does that. And I think that, deep down inside, Brennan craves that acceptance. And so the thought of losing Hannah as a friend because of something she said to Booth would have been distressing. People seem to expect that Brennan and Hannah shouldn’t be friends because of Booth, but the thing is, if Booth weren’t in the picture, I think they would have been friends anyway.
I don’t know, I guess what I’m trying to say is that maybe we’re looking at their friendship from the wrong angle.
January 22, 2011 at 9:28 am
I agree. Angela is still her best friend, but things get a little different when your friend marries, has a baby, and you don’t want to intrude too much because of their new priorities. Maybe at this point, Brennan wants a drinking buddy, and Angela doesn’t really fit the bill right now. She likes Cam, but they don’t kick it like that, and she’s her boss anyway. Hannah is new in town, so she would make friendships either by her job, or through Booth. I don’t really think journalists are tight like that, and she’s dealing a lot with political people. It’s probably nice to interact with someone direct like herself. I do think they like each other. Hannah certainly accepts her quirks. I thought the whole “Barkeep!” thing was funny. Maybe I’m just desperate for scenes where we get to see Brennan smile and have a good time again.
I confess, I almost didn’t rewatch the ending because I thought it was too awkward. Then I realized, any conversation with Brennan automatically raises the awkward level, haha. And she just has unconventional ways of making her point. I think she mentioned having to move on to Hannah to reassure her, woman-to-woman, friend-to-friend, that Temperance would not act on her feelings for Booth in any way.
I’ve had the weirdest feelings about this episode. It wasn’t the most exciting, but I’m liking it more and more. All the words said seem like they’re putting the nails on the coffin of a romance between them. Yet, I felt less distressed this episode than last episode, which I guess was more dramatic. But people are on edge, and maybe some seeds of doubt have been placed. I just feel like something’s on the horizon, like the calm before the storm. Anyway, it’s not over til the fat lady sings!
January 22, 2011 at 10:37 am
Brennan has been an individual who has been very content in life to live without many deep ties… the connections she has forged with people have been very shallow, at best. From sexual partners to intellectual partners, she has been able to live very comfortably without intimacy. Until Angela (who we don’t see going out all that often) and Booth. Booth changed it for her. Really changed it. As DB has put it, they were together, but not in the way people want. No other relationship (even Angela, to me) is as deep and personal as Brennan and Booth.
Then she realizes in DitP that she missed the opportunity to have something more meaningful, fulfilling and intimate with him. She admitted it and she got rejected.
Her relationship to Hannah has kind of confused me. It is evident they have become close, close enough for Brennan to feel the need to clear the air between them. She was obviously disappointed that Booth shared her confession with Hannah. I am not sure, tho, if her disappointment is due to her and Booth’s “what ours stays ours” rules of engagement. To me, her quick admittance that it was a mistake to say anything to him kind of leads me to believe it has more to do with what she is finding to be social norms between friends (you don’t tell your friend’s boyfriend you like them). I have found the need for Brennan to remain connected to Hannah more of a reflection of her need to remain connected to Booth than to the actual woman Hannah. All her life she has been abandoned and misunderstood. Brennan rarely needs an intimate friendship with anyone to feel content in life. But what she has needed were the little ties, the small acknowledgments, that confirm she’s loved. The small intimate exchanges that she and Booth have shared over the years (and the really deep truths) have opened her up. She still desires that connection.
This episode proved to me how far Brennan is willing to go to remain tied to someone she cares deeply for. Her confession to Booth seems to have really created a huge, tangible separation between all things Squints and FBI. Brennan reaching out to Hannah, although incredibly annoying to me, seems in line with her character as she’s grown and valued the relationships she has with those around her. But, to be clear, it’s more to remain close to Booth, in my opinion, than Hannah.
I was really really encouraged by the ‘he’s going to burst’ comments from viewers above. I am going to rewatch the ep and hope to see all the signs made mention above.
I’m looking forward to the inevitable emotional outburst between Booth and Brennan- “You’ve stopped wearing the belt buckle I gave you.” “Yeah, well, I don’t want to wear it anymore.” “Why not? You know, you haven’t acted like yourself for a while. Is it because I said I made a mistake?”… BOOM! *sigh* Get it ALL out on the table, you crazy kids. You’ll see you mean much more to each other than you’ve ever wanted to admit!
Things are definitely “OFF” and everyone’s feeling it, you and me included. Here’s to hoping that the much needed full out confrontation between them happens sooner than later. Mature people talk things out and it gets heated and messy sometimes. But you can’t dodge and hide behind “everything’s Ok” or, as Booth put it “whatevers”, forever.
January 22, 2011 at 11:30 am
Oh and proving my point: (which broke my heart into many tiny pieces):
Hannah: You usually have a drink with Seeley after a case, don’t you?
Brennan: Yeah, but he’ll have his drink with you when you get home.
Booo
January 22, 2011 at 3:34 pm
So, does the beltbuckle mean that Booth is not cocky and boothy anymore?
Sorry for the late comment, but I had to take a few days to find out how I felt about this episode, because whoa!(horse)
I finally broke it down to these reflections:
Booth:
He did the right thing by telling Hannah, BUT; He knows Brennan doesn’t understand things like that, so he should have warned her and explained to her that he had to tell Hannah and why. It’s like he’s trying realy hard not to care about Brennan at all.
Hannah:
This episode is where the writers finally broke down my defences against Hannah. I like her. And I hate them for it, because I know it will likely bite me in the arse one day.
Many people seem to have a problem with Hannah being understanding to Brennan, as in “What woman would stay friends with someone who loves their guy?”. Well apparently I’m not a woman, because I get it. Brennan is just not a threat in any way to Hannah at this point (One day hopefully but not now) and they are both at an age where they wouldn’t have been friends if they didn’t honestly like eachother.
Brennan:
I’m sad. Because Brennan has been pushed from all sides to open up, and fans have been raging at her to “get a clue” for years, and now that she finally has, all it brought her is pain. Right now, she feels like she did something wrong, mean, and shamefull, because that is the message that she gets. She could have lost a friend (Hannah) and I think that might scare het more than we realize. It’s not like she had many friends to spare, and her heartcrushing facial expressions and quietness during Angela’s gentle explanation of Hannah’s behavior tell me that she feels inadequate as it is.
The show in general:
I’m not the type to resort to ‘Hartcrushing’ (heh), but I do wonder why there seems to be no effort from Hart and the writers to have us like Booth. At this point is seems almost intentional. I mean Come On!
He could have said that he cares about Brennan, just not in ‘that’ way. Especially since Hannah brought up already knowing they are close. He could have confirmed that, or anything! I know he told Hannah to go easy on Bones because she is not like anyone else, but the way he said that…he might as well have meant Brennan is mentally challenged or something.
Why don’t they just give us something! I know there are a lot of things people pointed out as possibly significant or meaningfull, but it’s all stuff you really have to want to look for. Where is the maintext?(for lack of a better word) It’s just frustrating.
January 22, 2011 at 3:56 pm
First of all, I’ve been reading this blog for quite some time but, this is the first time I comment though. I LOVE coming here and reading the blog posts!!
All of the previous comments have been very interesting to read and I love how everyone is civil.
Anyhoo…
I was thinking. The title of the episode was “The Body in the Bag” and as someone already mentioned, there wasn’t a body in a bag. So that got me thinking. What if, as there most of is a meaning behind the title, the title this time has to do with something else. The saying “dont buy a pig in a poke” came to my mind. A poke is sort of a bag, and well, what if the title is refers to the situation between Hannah and Booth? In a way they both have bought a pig in a poke as neither of them know very much about each others history. Hannah for sure doesn’t know about the past of Booth and Brennan nor does she know about Booth’s past as a sniper or a gambler.
And as to the storyline. It was about counterfeited handbags, i.e. two handbags that look the same; one is just a cheaper version of the original. I’m not saying Hannah is a cheaper version of Brennan, but in many cases those two are pretty similar. They don’t look the same but their personalities are somewhat alike.
Just my two cents… 🙂
January 22, 2011 at 4:29 pm
For two people who have never said “I love you” to each other, Booth and Brennan say it all the time, just not out loud or to each other. I guess this is a pre-season 6 observation. What a discouraging episode. What I took from it is that whatever feelings Booth had for Brennan, they’re done and he has moved on. That’s fine, he seems happy. I just wish that I didn’t have to feel sorry for Brennan all the time. I mean, she’s awesome and doesn’t need it but she’s just so… sad lately.
What I really can’t get on board with is Hannah and Brennan being actual friends, and not just friendly towards each other. If I were Hannah and knowing Booth’s history with Brennan and that those types of experiences they’ve shared are the types of things that bond people for life, I would be a little more cautious no matter how adamant Booth is about it being in the past. If I were Brennan and seeing the guy I missed my chance with be with someone else, I would be so hurt that I’d actively avoid seeing them. I fail to understand how they can be genuine friends given the situation.
January 24, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Totally agree with your whole post, BTW.
January 22, 2011 at 4:32 pm
OK, I just watched this very carefully (the third time!) and a few quick comments. I think Booth’s statement to Sweets at the very beginning, “Stop up bringing me and Bones,” and his subsequent reprogramming the treadmill is evident he is NOT over Brennan. Me thinks he doth protest too much.
Not sure what it means but Brennan does this thing with her mouth once in awhile, sort of blowing out, that I’ve actually found myself doing. 🙂 She does it in this ep right as Hannah leaves in the van/cab to go to her interview. I’ve seen Bren do it previously but of course can’t recall when. Maybe because all this is sort of overwhelming for her as she makes her first forays into expressing her feelings … just a thought, anyway. (I also think the whole change in Clark may be a metaphor for the changes in Brennan.)
I started watching the ep again to watch for the socks. No go; we never see them. But I did get a couple chances to focus on the belt buckle. It looks like two crossed weapons, maybe rifles, with a banner at the top. I can’t find an exact duplicate but I think it’s an Army Ranger thing. (Side note, some of my searches pulled up images of Booth … seriously!!!!!)
Thanks Sarah for providing a vehicle for such incredible conversations about this show. I think you have set a new record for comments with this post. Looking forward to more discussions!
January 22, 2011 at 6:28 pm
I think Brennan and Hannah are friends because they both have Booth in common- as Sweets alluded to early in the episode. In befriending Hannah, Brennan gets three things: she gets to know what’s happening with Booth outside of work (because she doesn’t get to spend that time with him anymore); she gets a friend, which she seems to so desperately need at this point (poor Brennan); and she gets to see how Hannah acts in a “loving” relationship with Booth, which is what Brennan wants. With her steep learning curve, maybe she’s taking mental notes and making observations on how to carry out a successful relationship with Booth.
January 22, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Okay, has anyone noticed the expressions Brennan had and the side glances to booth when Jenny yang’s bf said these “she was turning her back on traditions that were very important to our relationship” and “I loved her, I wanted her to be happy” ??? Are these words reflective of what Brennan feels on the current status of her relationship with booth? it seems to me she was getting signals from the universe during this scene and she tries to see if booth also gets it by giving him meaningful side glances…. OR am I just reading too much into this?! sigh
January 22, 2011 at 7:44 pm
I saw the glances too, but it’s hard to say. I worry about over-analyzing things, myself. Sometimes I feel like BT is an online psychology class and BONES is the major case study. Just when I start I think to understand something, I see something else and it changes my perceptions. But I love it, or else I wouldn’t be on here everyday. 🙂
January 23, 2011 at 1:23 pm
ok, i’m going to have a lot more to say on this later when i have time, but for right now, a) i think booth thought bones said “love” because HE didn’t actually say “love’ when he bared his soul to her either, but he sure meant it. and b) i personally am in a situation where i have an ex who i had stronger feelings for than he did for me, and although it didn’t work out, we’ve remained friends because we are too good of a friend to each other and get along too well to just not even speak any more. he has a new girlfriend who he loves, and i’ve gone out of my way to be nice to her and be friends with her because i actually do want him to be happy, and because i’d rather be friends with both of them than be nasty to her and not be friends with either of them. the last scene with bones and hannah out drinking really reminds me of my relationship with this girl…i think bones, like me, may not have the ideal situation, but can make the best of it and see the silver lining and be glad that at least she has a new friend. it’s not like other people are beating down her door to hang out with her, now that angela is pregnant and in her own little world.
on a side note, i really REALLY want to see an ep where bones ends up babysitting the hodgins offspring.
January 23, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Thankfully i’m a lot calmer now than i was after i first watched. Hopefully i can keep this rational…who am i kidding, it’ll be straight from the heart but hopefully it’ll make sense!
I agree with you in that Booth shouldn’t be focusing on the past. We don’t when we move on, why should we expect him to? For him to make this relationship with Hannah work, he HAS to completely move on. And as much as it hurt me to hear Booth dismiss any feelings he’d once had for Brennan so easily, i understand why he did it. But it hurt…like hell.
Now….i am briefly going to rant at Booth…so, move on if you wish.
You gone? Good…i’ll begin.
WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING????! I mean….seriously??!
1. He had NO right to tell Sweets. At all. The only person who had any right to know about what happened in that SUV was Hannah. And Booth…he told Sweets as if it was nothing. He told Sweets Brennan said she loved him. I think that in the 100th Brennan understood Booth was telling her he loved her without saying the words. And for me, in DitP Brennan was saying the same thing, no words needed. Another instance where words aren’t needed between them. But to announce it to Sweets so…dismissively. Brennan wasn’t his priority there, and nor was he confused and in hurt as many claim. He was feeling guilty for not telling Hannah (as he should) and was looking for Sweets to make it easier for him and tell him what to do. Which he did. The entire thing p’d me off…so much so that it ALMOST ruined my joy at JFD singing ‘Lime in da coconut’…almost 😉
2. IF Booth HAD to tell Sweets, then he should have picked a better location. The FBI gym…where anyone could have heard and repeated what he said…he could have turned Brennans emotional breakdown into Hoover gossip. It was wrong on so many levels, and makes my blood boil if i think about it too long! People argue that is was to show that he HAD to speak to Sweets…that he couldn’t wait. I have to call BS on that. This was obviously a time after the event…he had plently of time to tell Sweets privately. But he didn’t…he chose a public setting like the subject matter was unimportant.
OK, Booth annoyance over. On to the rest of the episode! LOL
Hannah. Now, anyone who knows me knows i love Hannah. Possible too much 😉 But ironically, when other fans were saying how they started to like her, she actually annoyed me. Her treatment of Brennan after she found out…it was nothing short of cowardly. We know that Brennan and Hannah now have a friendship…they have drinks, do lunch etc. We are told this. And she KNOWS Brennan won’t understand that she is being given the brush off, and she takes advantage of that. Angela should not have had to explain that to Brennan…it hurt me to see the penny finally drop. Like i said…she was a coward.
In other news….i ADORED Clark and Hodgins. Hodgins , his wife beater and the power drill…so HOT! And Clark…officially my favorite Squintern!
Plus the end scene with Hannah and Brennan….made me smile. I enjoy their friendship…these two strong, independant woman would have been friends regardless of Booth i think. And i enjoy seeing that side of things.
Now…forgive me for my Booth rant?! *smiles sweetly*
January 23, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Okay… I was a little angry at this episode, but not really. Booth telling Sweets in that sort of “i don’t care; it’s not a big deal” way REALLY annoyed me (although JFD singing Lime in da Coconut may have made my day : P). However, he did go to someone else, he was lost, and the level of which he threatened Sweets makes me hopeful and happy HAHA. (also “treadmills are for mice”)
I for one can understand him telling Hannah, and I actually am starting to sort of like her (i know *shockhorror*). She dealt with this confession very well… if you think about. Okay role-playing for a second, your new(ish) boyfriend tells you that he was once in love with his best friend (now your good friend) and that she just recently confessed that she loved him as well ( which she didn’t but don’t get me started on that). You’d be kinda shocked right? (especially since they seem so distant now) it would explain ALOT (like all those hurt looks on brennan’s face).. but still even though you’re sort of annoyed that he hadn’t told you this earlier you still warn him that his friend won’t get over this too quickly. I personally think that was a situation well dealt with.
anyways onwards..
1. I’m with you, I don’t think Booth is over Brennan, but I believe that he believes he is – whether that is enough though… we’ll have to wait and see. But I doubt Booth even understands what his feeling were/are for Brennan. There are so many levels, so many moments, so many secrets that they have shared that that bond between them would not be easy to just explain. And if you can’t explain to yourself how are you ever supposed to explain it to anyone else.
2. I don’t understand why Booth is saying she said “love” when she didn’t. But maybe it’s because her saying love would have been so much easier. Brennan admitting that she made a mistake is so much harder to comprehend then she just learning to understand love. “I love you” sure maybe Brennan could say that and not mean it (unlikely but you know, a possiblity) but “I made a mistake” now that is serious. That meant that Brennan had thought over their conversation over and over again, and after compiling and weighing up all her evidence was ready to admit that she had been wrong all along, and that she didn’t want regrets. In Brennan language “i’m wrong” has a lot more meaning then “i love you”, and Booth knows that. And Sweets knows that. And maybe even Hannah knows that. So Booth says that she said “love” to downplay the whole thing. To make himself feel better. And to make getting over Brennan just that little bit easier.
Now Cocky. As soon as I saw cocky was gone i think that made me more upset then Booth telling Sweets. That belt buckle is a symbol of the Booth we love so much and most of all Brennan’s Booth, the guy that Booth became because of Brennan. It means so much, and for it to just disappear, i think that illustrated the current standing between B&B better then anything. It also told us that Booth no longer wants to be that rogue, rebel that he has been for so long. He’s not a gambler. He doesn’t need flashy ties and an outlandish belt buckles to help him through. And he is no longer trying to impress Brennan. That’s the scary part.
However, the other question is which Booth did Hannah fall in love with? Cocky or not cocky. Does she love him for his roguish swagger and small signs of rebellion, or is she just in love with the man who saved her life in Afghanistan? I gues we’ll just have to wait and see what this un-Cocky-ness does to our Seeley Booth.
‘Til then, I’m just praying that his stripey socks never, EVER disappear. For God help me if they do.
-62
January 23, 2011 at 9:09 pm
See I think cocky being gone could actually turn out to be a good thing. The more I think about it the more I think it’s a sign that Booth is tightening the ranks, trying to remove Brennan’s influence in his life. On the surface that seems like a very bad thing because it looks like more proof that he’s moved on, BUT I think it actually proves just how much she still does matter to him.
Cocky, the crazy ties, the striped socks – they are Booth, but it’s all thanks to Brennan…and if he were truly over her, I think he’d be okay with this person she’s helped him become – he wouldn’t feel the need to change anything. Instead, he tries to strip any reminder of her from his life in an attempt to return to the person he was BB (before Brennan).
The truth is that Brennan has been as good for him as he’s been for her. And ultimately, that’s a truth he’s going to be unable to deny. When that happens, I think we’ll see cocky, and the ties, and the socks come back.
Perhaps I’m reading more into this than I should, but, personally, I’m okay with that because trying to find the positive in the situation helps me deal better.
January 23, 2011 at 10:38 pm
I thought it was interesting that Hannah said it was easier getting shot at than dealing with emotional stuff. And then Booth agreed. You can’t take a relationship deeper if neither person is willing to go there.
January 25, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Hi all. Always read your insightful comments with interest. Just thought I’d add my two cents’ worth…which may very well be drivel!
Is there not a subtext for us as an audience implicit in the “bonding moment” at the bar at the end of the episode? By this I mean that although we applaud – and laugh with – both women for their instant rejection to being propositioned to engage in a threesome, is there not also a suggestion that in the dynamics within the romantic triangle between Booth, Brennan and Hannah, two is company, three is a crowd; that as much as the women may like each other, they will ultimately not be able to share.
Viz the episode title: here’s a few more ramblings on the topic. When you have something “In the bag”, it means you have it as good as secured, so the writers were playing with words: ie the solution to solving the murder was directly related to the counterfeit bag > the body of evidence was in the bag.
Looking at it more symbolically and looking at other similar sayings, “The cat’s out of the bag” means that the secret is out (Brennan has opened up to Booth and Booth in turn has told her secret both to Sweets and Hannah). But in addition, perhaps ‘the body of evidence has been bagged as proof’ and we might wonder whether we are also being reminded to look at the latter for clues in relation to the Booth/Brennan dyad (see above bar encounter)?
January 25, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Hmmm. Interesting. That guy did ask Brennan for a drink first, then Hannah. But the guy wanted both of them, but he couldn’t have both and got neither. Is this what you mean by your comparison? That Booth must make an honest decision to choose one or the other (without being in a state of denial), or will he find that his heart has already chosen for him?
January 25, 2011 at 9:26 pm
I feel that the closing scenes of each episode often act as a summing-up for the audience, moving things on in the narrative a little. You’ve clarified the thoughts in my earlier posting with a neat Booth-centric perspective, which i hadn’t considered while i was writing, but it’s certainly there. I guess I’d been looking at it from the female protagonists’ viewpoint but one misses things when thinking on the hoof! I would add to your point about Booth having to make an honest decision that since much of the episode is about honesty, and openness, we are being asked to look at what is true and what is false ( its all in the counterfeit bag). And is it a coincidence that Clark has suddenly found a voice, speaking totally candidly while others appear to be ignoring the evidence of what’s going on around them or speaking half truths?